i think we build the coop too small. newbie dilemma

[Picotine]

hi,

we have 12 barred rock chicks and hubby build them a 4'x4'6" coop we originally made 8 nesting box (4 wide by 2 high) but learned that we don't need that many box because more then one use the same box. so if we take down all the dividers for the bottom, it gives them 4.5' x 4' of floor space. hubby was planning to build a 8'x4' run. and we'd move the coop and run around the yard every 2 days. now that i read that each chicken need 4 sf if they go out or 10 sf if they stay in coop... it look like we won't be able to keep our dozen chicken

we had planned to put the coop and run in the garage for the winter... it's a double garage with only one garage door opening but no door on it and we never bothered to install a new door on it. we don't use the garage for our car. just lawn tractor and snow blower.

how many chicken would you keep? half of them might be roosters.

 

[nurse_turtle]

Sounds like the coop is definitely too small for 12 chickens and your garage is gonna smell horribly if you keep those chickens in there. Good luck finding a solution.

 

[Raen]

You got a straight run? Plan on getting rid of all the roosters, 6 chickens should be OK (although 4 would be better) if you make the run a bit bigger. Planning on moving it around the yard every two days...does that mean it's a chicken tractor design? Can you post a picture? Maybe we can suggest something more specific. Where do you live? You might not need to bring the coop in for the winter if there is adequate protection from the elements.

 

[Picotine]

we don't know exactly how many male/female we have yet. the breeder doesn't sex day olds. but however many rooster we have, we'd only keep one. we planned it to be a tractor but the coop feels too heavy to pull by hand. we'd have to use the lawn tractor. the run will attach to it but is removable to make it easier to move around. i can't post picture yet because i don't have enough posts. unless i can use cold links.

i personally don't mind if the garage smell during the winter. we live in Atlantic Canada where the temperature can reach -22F although on average it might be hovering around -4 to +5F. last winter was fairly mild but we had over 5 feet of snow.

 

[Duramaxgirl]

your problem is common

my first coop DH built was to small so he made me another now my 2nd coop is to small so he's starting the 3rd.

Do you have photos? Maybe adding on will help. And in cold winters they spend a lot of time inside. Mine spent the whole month of november inside their coops. So oversized coops in the north is a good idea.

 

[Picotine]

i'll try to post cold links, i hope it's ok

https://lh3(dot)googleusercontent(d...AAAAAAAABZg/PXXCLi2pUa0/s640/IMG_2791(dot)JPG
https://lh6(dot)googleusercontent(d...AAAAAAAABZk/2P-ayiKDY5k/s640/IMG_2792(dot)JPG

https://lh4(dot)googleusercontent(d...AAAAAAAABZo/HXLsydAHHhU/s640/IMG_2796(dot)JPG
hubby put hardware cloth on the frame today, a poop tray will slide under.

i guess i'm due for new pictures but it should give an idea of the thing in general.

 

[Raen]

Pics.


What's the slide out thingie on the bottom?

 

[ravenzero]

Yeah, that many chickens will tear each other apart in that space, Get rid of all but 1 Roo and you Might be ok.....maybe

 

[georgiagail]

If this helps....we started out with 12 chicks (barred rocks, rhode island reds, buffs and a couple of "who knows what" thrown in)

We made our coop 4 x 8 (nest boxes are on the outside) and the run is 7 x 14.5 (see attached):

When you first put the chicks in, you think "they're going to get lost in this large run"... and they do look dinky in there:

Couple of months later you've got BIG monster chickens and even with an 8 foot wide coop they're jostling for space at night.

One of your problems is that while you will want to reduce the rooster stock, these guys are going to be adult size before you find out who is a rooster and who is a hen.

Any way you can at least rethink the size of your run?

Gail

 

[Nicole01]

Our coop is inside our garage. We built a fully insulated room 12x5x8. I use DE and pine. I clean the coop daily and there is no chicken smell whatsoever. At most we smell a faint pine smell. I clean the run 1-2 times a week and I compost all the poo in the woods. The DE helps with the smell and there are ZERO bugs! I fully change the bedding 1 time a month, but since I clean 3-5 times a day it's pretty clean. I am very happy with our setup and wouldnt want it any other way. The best part about this is I don't have to walk through the snow to get to my girls.